Firefighters cross scorched terrain in the Padres National Forest. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)Some were bank robbers, car thieves and burglars. Now they are on the front lines in the scary and dangerous job of saving California from raging wildfires. There are about 3,900 of them, all state prison inmate volunteers from 44 fire camps spread across California.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, right, rushes past reporters Friday moments after House Speaker John Boehner's resignation announcement. (Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke)California’s Kevin McCarthy is on track to become the next speaker of the House. If it happens, the affable Republican will achieve one of the fastest ascents in House history — or California political history, for that matter. He would be the second House speaker from California. The other is San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
One of the first local ballot measures aimed at cutting public pension costs, a cap on Pacific Grove payments to CalPERS approved by voters three years ago, was ruled unconstitutional by a Monterey County superior court judge last week.
Judge Thomas Wills ruled Friday that Measure R violated the contract clause of the state